Sorry for the delay, I have found some interesting material on SWIGA that was sent to me by Energycare group to prove that the SWIGA warranty was less suitable than the insurance backed on. I had phoned SWIGA over 20 times and not once did they return my calls, It was the usual 'the person you want to talk to is in a meeting, or unavailable, on leave, will be in tomorrow etc' I was only going through SWIGA as to go to court without the arbitration process first reduces the possible success of the claim. I remember this being in the guidance notes prior to going to court. It is now my opinion that SWIGA was only set up as a self serving company with no concern for the worthless warranties they give. They are just interested in giving the companies such as energycare group a logo to go on their advertising for the fee they charge the companies for each warranty. This is much the same as Check-a Trade who gather, Kelvin McKenzie of the Sun paper has exposed. This was certainly the same experience with this company as they were presented with the same photographs of the poor workmanship as Energycare Group and as were going to be supplied to the court. I enclose 3 documents that Energycare Group sent to me to justify that the insurance backed warranty was better than the SWIGA one. They were almost certainly right about this except the SWIGA warranty was worth, in my case, nearly £15,000 less. Sorry, I don't seem to be able to add the attachments Statch

Also Regarding the Warranty on the work which was Insurance based and worth much less than the SWIGA cover which I was told I would have. Kingsway Claims also chased this up for me and the SWIGA cover was granted retrospectively. The irony of the was that in the documentation that Energycare Group sent to me was a document by and independent group claiming that as the SWIGA was a privately run company set up to provide the warranties, they could easily become liquidated and the warranty would disappear with them and that although the insurance backed warranty was worth very much less in cover, they were much less likely to go our of business. Statch

Yes, fortunately, the insurance broker, Buckingham Insurance who I purchased my house insurance policy were not happy with the response from AU Insurance and arranged for Kingsway Claims to act for me. Kingsway claims were very helpful and went after both AU Insurance and Energy Care Group. AU claims were very obstructive and we eventually got nowhere with them, much to my disappointment. I sent a copy of the photographs of the very poor work to Kingsway Claims, and they were appalled and agreed to pursue the case against Energy Care Group. Energy Care Group did respond to Kingsway Claims but initially would not accept responsibility. Kingsway printed high resolution colour copies of the photograph I had sent to them and sent these pictures to Energy Care Group by recorded delivery wit the threat of court action. Energy Care Group then offered me half the total claim value which I turned down. Kingsway claims were not going to pay for the court action on my behalf but were going to help me fill in the court papers and advise me and asked me if I wanted to continue. I said yes and as soon as Kingsway Claims presented the court papers to EnergyCare Group, the full amount of £953.57 was offered to me and accepted. In conclusion, I was very grateful for the help of Buckingham Insurance and Kingsway Claims but disappointed that AU Insurance, who should have given me the same sort of help with a valid claim did nothing and got away with it. Also Check-a-trade, who also had copies of all the photographs did nothing to help whatsoever. I meant to write this outcome nearly a year ago but unfortunately have been in hospital three times reducing my ability to write in a coherent manner for quite some time. Statch

Never had any written word from SWIGA, only recorded telephone conversation. Previous reply showa Wisecall key facts. Also are two pictures of how the damage to the front door occured, Around the door handle is abrasive motor. Energycare group (who I noticed are advertising on this site, still with SWIGA logo) said the front door was covered, more lies from them! My main aim is to recover the cost of a replacement door and broken tile. I have many more pictures of their appalling workmanship.

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Energycare group carried out much of the remedial work except for replacing the front door and broken window tile. A builder said further investigation would involve undoing the work they have done and if it was found to be ok then I am left with an even larger bill, advice given was to let the job settle and if future problems occured, claim of them or the insurance backed warranty. I was told by SWIGA that all proposed work had to be registered with them before work was carried out to comply for their warranty. (on one of the few occasions when I could get any reply out of them at all) Wisecall time limits are stated in their 'key facts' information sheet. ( I could be wrong, but I think I had to ask for this sheet) Statch

Regarding the work done by Energycare Group. There was supposed to be a 'pull test' carried out by a separate company, this was never done. I was then told it would be ok and didn't need it. Later on the workers and supervisor refused to insulate toi the top of a wall because the bricks were not 'solid enough' As this defeated the object of having the wall insulated I got a friend to re-lay all the bricks at the top of the wall over a week-end. The bricks were pre drilled to take the verge trim that was to be fastened to it. The new brickwork was then just hammered into by the workman (who was the team leader) as he couldn't be bothered to use the pr-existing holes.This damaged the new mortar which they just filled with sealant. A plumber and an electrician turned up 2 weeks before work commenced and took down the security lighting and audible warning device of persons on the driveway for 3 months. The 3 workers turned up with no ladders and no extension lead so had to borrow mine. There was a slight overhang of the bricks all the way around the bungalow about halfway up. They said this needed removing. Later in the day I looked and they had damaged the brickwork to the extent that I could move the loose damaged and shattered bricks. I phoned to complain about this and they said thay would send the supervisor up. The team arrived very early the next day and covered the damage with mortar before the supervisor got there. Hence I now find one of the bricks pushed through into the chimey flue. Some insulation blocks were left covering some of the damage and was left and rendered over! The plumber was unable to extend the tumble dryer exit and left the outside tap and the Gas pipe too far away from the wall. They put insulation blocks over an air brick and rendered over it and had to re-do it. They claimed it was my fault that the walls were streaky because of damaged guttering but the walls were streaky and had to be re-done 3 times. Under the bay window had to be redone twice, no guttering over that and at the back where there is no guttering as they had fitted a 'verge trim'. The problem they would not accept is that it was just too cold for the paint to dry. A wall light fell off the wall 2days after being fitted as they didn't have the correct fittings for solid wall insulation. The gas pipe was left hanging for 3 metres without any attatchment. when this was repaired, I gather on the instruction of the operations manager, bits of copper pipe were fitted which did nothing and even the plumber was ashamed at being told to do it this way. Again, it had to be re-done. The electricians re-fitterd and connected some cables that had been left loose and after they had gone, I found there was no power to one of the sockets so the plumber rang them to come back as a cable had been left disconnected in the wall. The outside tap was left unattatched from the wall and had to be re-done. Cables were wrongly routed afterwards and also had to be re-done. Rubbish was just duped on the front garden as they didn't have ant large rubbish bags. The front door was covered in paint and render,(hence the damage) but they claim it was covered but hav photos to prove otherwise. A gap around a window was going to be rendered over in the top coat even though there was just foam filler underneath so I asked them to do it properly and one of the lads did. After they had left, I found a piece of insulation inder a drain pipe, I removed it and the drain pipe fell down even though there were 4 or 5 brackets on it, none were supporting it. The supervisor had to come back with a pressure washer to try and remove some of the paint that was everywhere. To top it all, the supervisor accused me of swaering at him over the phone, good old True Call recording proved otherwise and offered them a copy of the recording. The sealant around the windows was the quality of a five year old and had to be re-done and there was still render stuck to the window frames where they hadn't been covered properly. I am sure there is more I have missed but if you get one of their leaflets through your door, I think there is enough information to avoid them. I gather they are still now doing work under the Green Deal Scheme! Statch

Energycare Group said their team would do the job of solid wall insulatio in 2 weeks or less. I constantly had to send them photographs of the faults which took them 5 months to complete. I am currently in dispute over the cost of replacing the damaged front door and a broken window tile (there is also damage to my extension lead which they said they will reimburse on a receipt of replacement). This amounts to £953.57. The damage to the door they are saying that I caused it by cleaning it! They also state they have a photo of the door without any damage, this is slight of hand as the door was sprayed with an oil such as WD40 which temporarily gives it a shine and helps to hide the deep scratches in it. I had a separate company to look at the door and they said it was not repairable and that spraying oil onto it was 'an old trick'. Energycare also state that the damage to the window tile was already done but I have photographs to disprove this. The one drawback is that I cannot get the date to print onto the pictures as this would require another printer so the pictures are less valid without the dates on them even though they show up on the camera and separately when loaded onto the computer. However, a builder recently removed a fire place for me and there is a brick from the solid wall that has been hit so hard that it is pushed through into the chimney flue and also part of the roof where they insulated up to has had to be re-sealed and the window ledge they fitted is also now separating. There is also the matter of being told that the work would be covered by the SWIGA guarantee, this is an insurance for 25 years to cover costs of defects occuring in or as a result of the installation to the value of £25,000 whereas the Kinnell guarantee has a maximum value of £9,505 to cover any problems that may occur over the next 25 years. This gives me £15,495 less cover than I would have under the SWIGA guarantee. I only have one e-mail which refers to the guarantee as a SWIGA one. I had given Energycare group notification of court proceedings against them but was expecting help from the legal cover I purchased and dont know what, if any remedy there would be for the difference in insurance backed guarantee. There were numerous forms I had to sign and asked for copies of them but of course, they never arrived. I never even got a receipt for the payment made to them for many weeks until I had to chase them up for it. That is the only written correspondence I have ever had from them. I will in another post state the problems that occured, many of them photographed. It would be funny if it were not so serious.

The policysold with the house insurance is called Wisecall Claims Assisstance 'Family Legal Protection' and was charged at an extra £15.90 in August 2013. The renewal was charged at £20 in Aug 2014 and is re-named 'Premier Family Legal Expenses Insurance'. This was purchased this year but after confirmation it was still only a nine month policy, it was cancelled within the first week. The underwriters for the policy have also changed as initially Wisecall told me to phone a different number which put me through to LIM Legal Insurance Management of Sheffield but then Wisecall phoned to say I had to phone 'Secure and Protect' who turned out to be AU Insurance Services of Swansea. They at first said I didn't have a policy underwritten by them but another phone call to Wisecall said I had. Eventually, after being accused (very rudely) of giving them the wrong policy number, I re-played the True-call recording and phoned them back to confirm that they were in the wrong. They were very slow to reply and very unhelpful as were Wisecall. Reading the letter now, I see that AU Insurance Services Limited are "an appointed representative of Shelter Administration Services Limited". I will submit another reply about Energycare group of 1 Appley Court, Appley Wood Corner, Haynes, Bedfordshire MK45 3QQ

Firstly, Had an 'ECO' grant towards the cost of solid wall insulation all taken care of by Energycare Group of Haynes. http://www.energycaregroupltd.co.uk/about Surveyor came and said it would take a 2 weeks or less in Nov 2013. Work was completed in March 2014 after 50 calls to them. I was told by the surveyor and installers there was a SWIGA (Solid Wall Installation Guarantee Agency). The quality of work was very poor and they had to come back numerous times and caused damage to the property. Due to sight problems in the winter light I relied on their supervisor stating that the work was all ok and was pressured into signing the satisfaction form before the workers left as they kept saying they would not get paid until the form was signed. Complained through their 'Check-a- Trade' organisation they were registered with. Energycare Grooup came out with a pack of lies even though I sent them photographic evidence to the contrary. No result as Check-a Trade are paid by the companies. Complained to SWIGA but after more than 20 phone calls, letters and E-mails there was never any response. Complained to Ofgem as they are supposed to 'monitor' these organisations but again no response. After 3 months found that EnergyCare Group had not registered the work with SWIGA so not covered bt their ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) process. Found Energycare group had arranged an insurance backed warranty if they ceased trading but it was worth over £15000 less and no ADR process. Had purchased Legal cover with the house insurance through 'Wisecall Claims Assistance'. When reading the document that was sent, it is only a 9 month policy as they will not accept claims within the first 90 days of commencement of the policy. I thought at first this was only for new policies but it is in fact on renewals also. Never mind I thought, my claim was after the 90 day period so submitted a claim which Wisecall said to go through their underwriters, AU insurance services. The claim was rejected because I had not notified them within 90 days of the damage occuring, having lost 3 months going through SWIGA! Wise call said to send a letter in writing to their nameless managing director. This was done on 26th Aug this year. By 6th November, still no reply or acknowledgement so contacted Wisecall and they gave me an e-mail address a copy of original letter was resent to them. Still to date no acknowledgement or reply. I have been told to sue Energycare group for 'Breach of contract but dont know how or what redress that would bring. I have checked on the OFT Unfair contract terms and sections 2.4.2 and 2.4.3 seem relevent regarding time limits being imposed where a claim could not be brought earlier but still have no idea how to proceed now so any comments would be very welcome. statch ps Was also told to seek redress through Ofgen as their companies contributed to the cost so should help but ofgem very evasive and at first said it wasn't a consumer issue then after telling them all calls were recorded and contacting my mp a message was sent to get back to them, this I was unable to do at the time as I was in hospital so now just trying to pick up the pieces again.

Regarding the Green Deal/ECO schemes and my last post about Energycare Group and SWIGA. After 3 months I have now found from Energycare that my Guarantee is through Kinnell. This means that the Guarantee is worth over £15,000 less than the SWIGA one, there is no option for the "Alternative Dispute Resolution" and there is no requirement for them to abide by the SWIGA code of conduct. I contacted Trading Standards and was told to sue for Breach of Contract as I had been told by the surveyor and on a couple more occasions when the work was being done that it was a SWIGA guarantee as on their website, leaflets and vehicles. My very limited understanding means that a judge would want to put me back into a pre contract position which would be difficult to do (in my opinion). Does any one know what my options would be? Do I now need to contact a solicitor? I would welcome any comments. statch

The guarantees offered by green deal providers is also very basic when it comes to cavity wall and solid wall insulation. I have problems with Energycare Group of Haynes in Bedfordshire, Very poor survey, appalling workmanship and damage to property. The correct procedure would be to go through SIGA and SWIGA who operate out of the same address. I tried this route and after phoning was tol to put the complaint in writing, which I did on 1st April. By the end of April they still couldn't confirm they had the complaint and was asked to send in ane-mail. Still no response, another e-mail and no response. 14 phone calls half of which no one available, in a meeting, not at desk etc and the rest promising a return call none of which happened. CIGA and SWIGA are funded through the Green Deal Providers and despite their code of practice stating the installers must protect customers property at all times. The 25 year guarantee for the cavity wall insulation took 6 months to arrive but happens to be backed not by SIGA/SWIGA but through the BBA and has the convenient "get out clause" that "The guarantee is not valid if the installation has been altered or disturbed after the installation was complete" So if you have solid wall insulation and then later, for instance have to have new windows, then the guarantee is not valid. After 4 attemts to contact BBA, simply told ther is an online form to fill in. Then found the Green Deal scheme has an ombudsman so gave them a try only to be told my grant was under the ECO scheme. Told to try the Energy Savings Advice Service as it was an ECO grant but they only refered me back to the SWIGA route. Unfortunately, because of poor eyesight I was conned into signing the job off on the say so of an inspection by the supervisor and of course the job was not to even a basic standard. After many return visits by them much of the work has been rectified but they wont accept responsability for the damage to property so it looks like county court action now.

For Malc from EON, Along with the price increases that take effect from 18th Jan 2014, the new terms and conditions insist that I agree to my data being used for 'research' purposes and that this will be with 'organisations' outside the European Economic Area. What would a power supplier want to give personal data to anyone outside the EU. Perhaps you could elaborate on these 'organisations' and the sort of 'research' that my data will be used for?

So sad to lose the selfless contributions made by Martin, my condolences to his family. A very good man.

Yes in my opinion the treatment was/is appalling but I dont think I have anything to now claim for as the call barring is now reinstated. Consumer direct said 2 yars ago to either pay the money they were claiming I owed them and then go to court or go through otelo as I would not have to pay up front. There was also a separate issue of mis-selling. As I have accepted the findings of otelo who took approx a year to reach a full decision and also the credit which Post Office Phones say was applied to the account 19th Feb 10 but which their revenue management team say their system does/did not recognize. They also said that the last bill (normal quarterly) which says please pay by April 24th which was paid on Tues 20th by debit card at a post office branch did not reach them in time to stop them putting the call barring onto operation. So with my very limited knowledge having never made a claim or been to court in my life, there is nothing now to claim against other than poor service which seems normal in todays society. I have read on this site about writing to the OFT as all written complaints have to be investigated, is this the best option or just a waste of time as apart from being 'told off' for poor service, nothing happens. Thanks again.